Barneson gets the green light

The Property Council of Australia NT Division strongly supports today's Federal Government announcement to fund $29.5 million into the progress of Darwin City Centre Master Plan Project 14, Barneson Boulevard.

The City of Darwin's proposed Barneson Boulevard Project is a significant ‘city building’ project, aiming to enable the Darwin City Centre to continue to expand as the economic centre of the Northern Territory. Northern Territory Director of the Property Council Ruth Palmer said.

“By creating a new access way into the City, the Barneson Boulevard project will remove current constraints to growth, create jobs in the Darwin Region and open up new areas for potential development in the Top End's primary employment and entertainment hub.

“The Darwin City Master Plan is a blue print for the city’s growth aimed at five key goals of prosperity, sustainability, liveability, leadership and design.

“This announcement will not only increase certainty across the Darwin City Centre, it will also provide jobs and open up investment opportunities to Territorians.

“The Property Council has been advocating for the Barneson Boulevard Project for sometime now and the importance of this road link cannot be understated.

“It is encouraging to see that the Federal Government also acknowledge the importance of this project and by committing to projects identified in the Darwin City Centre Master Plan.

“As a Darwin City Centre Master Plan project, Barneson Boulevard was developed through extensive community consultation and in close collaboration with the Northern Territory Government and the City of Darwin. As such, the Barneson Boulevard Project will no doubt improve the performance of our City Centre.

“The implementation of the Barneson Boulevard Project is a forward planning solution to a community identified need that will lead to positive economic and social outcomes for the Darwin Community.

“We need to ensure that we have a long term plan for the region and strong support across all levels of government. The funding of this project and the support provided by all levels of government clearly show the importance the Darwin City Centre plays as the primary employment and entertainment hub of the Top End.

“Projects like these will help improve confidence in the commercial property sector. A commitment from the Territory Government to stop the defragmentation of our City Centre is the next step.

“If the property investment community sees a commitment from our politicians to keep Darwin City as primary employment and entertainment hub, we are likely to see confidence improve to point where will finally see things start to turn around across all parts of the property sector.”